You can find a slot canyon in Minnesota, like Arizona’s Antelope Canyon, at St. Paul’s Crosby Farm Regional Park. Strangely, it is almost always referred to as the park’s “secret slot canyon,” but a quick search of the web shows that it’s not all that hard to find, and people certainly seem to know about it. Although it’s not really much of a secret, Crosby Farm doesn’t go out of its way to advertise the canyon, so it’s a less-known feature of the park than it otherwise could be. Let’s take a look.
Although Crosby Farm Regional Park boasts more than six miles of paved trails, none of them offer access to the park’s slot canyon.
tina c/AllTrails To get there, hike east from the parking area, and follow one of the social trails along the bluffs on the west side of Lake Crosby.
About midway along the lake, look for a less-traveled trail leading toward the bluff.
Tom Eggum/AllTrails Follow it to the mouth of the slot canyon.
Although narrow, and high-walled, the small canyon is not deep.
Abby Gold/AllTrails
Once you round the curve, the canyon widens into a cul-de-sac where a seasonal waterfall sometimes trickles over the edge.
Aaron Smith/AllTrails
Explorers venture into the slot canyon year round.
William Wight/Google
When sufficient water has run over the lip of the cliff, ice climbers will sometimes visit the canyon to hone their skills.
Trypp Adams/Google
When hiking in winter, be sure to bring along traction devices, as the floor of the gorge is often covered in ice. Have you explored the secret slot canyon at Crosby Farm Regional Park?
tina c/AllTrails
To get there, hike east from the parking area, and follow one of the social trails along the bluffs on the west side of Lake Crosby.
Tom Eggum/AllTrails
Follow it to the mouth of the slot canyon.
Abby Gold/AllTrails
Aaron Smith/AllTrails
William Wight/Google
Trypp Adams/Google
If you’re interested in hiking another slot canyon in Minnesota, check out the Kadunce River gorge, which is east of Grand Marais, along the north shore of Lake Superior. Although the trail is open year-round, you can really only explore the canyon by heading up the river. In warm weather, when the flow rate is low, you can wade up the gorge. Or go in the winter, when you can hike on the ice and marvel at the frozen formations in the canyon.
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Address: Crosby Farm Regional Park, 2595 Crosby Farm Rd, St Paul, MN 55116, USAAddress: 44.904556, -93.152944
